I will tell you the reason why I did not name my essay that way. It is no exaggeration to say that the days that have befallen us have brought rain to the whole world. Every drop took people to another world. However, many people died that way. Maybe they went to a place free from the evil of the world, they got rid of it. At home, we would listen to online lessons until we got bored, and with a thousand and one difficulties, we would leave the textbooks to our teacher. We even miss our teachers whom we resent and hate. We could only remember our classmates who had fights and quarrels in the same class and we could only report them. But as they say "Love is in the eye", we told them "It's not long before we meet again"... When our relative living in the village got sick and died, we couldn't follow him to his last destination because of this quarantine... We bought glasses at home, we could not do anything else. We would endure it no matter what. After we reached the yellow gold of our patience, we began to return to normal life, but even then we followed the established rules and isolated ourselves. Save the market and shops. Many people's wives have been burned by this disease. God will test us all with suffering. Billions of money could not save a few rich people. The final address of those buried in the mass grave has not been found. He lived like a king, his bed was soft, the fluffy pillow on his head was as white as snow. Clothes were chosen for a capricious body, no matter how much, it seemed too little. After death it went everywhere. People's lifestyles are different, conditions are different, but the destination is the same?! One should avoid arrogance. After all, death is not a fairy tale, it is a reality. The same fate awaits the rich and the poor. Led many people names are different, but their addresses are the same. The same disease led many from their huge, expensive houses to the grave - to their new homes, bright and cozy rooms, to a small coffin with a new room. When you enter the cemetery, you will see nothing but graves and tombstones. He cannot tell who is rich and who is poor there. All a tests us all. He proved his greatness and what he is capable of. But he reminded that the whole world would be shaken by his command. He reminded us to avoid arrogance, conceit, avarice, avarice. He reminded us that we are slaves and that we have no choice but to repent. The saddest thing is that the call to prayer can be heard from the window that was opened in the morning, but there is no one in the mosque except Eldes. There is no sign of congregational Friday prayers. The feeling that made the heart of the Muslim believer tremble was that there was not even 1 part of 1000 people who went to Makkah and visited the graves of our Prophet. The fact that there is no one in Makkah and Madinah , which is always crowded, the house of God is empty, and the fact that no believer has visited the house of our prophet has caused tears of every Muslim. Arrogance, arrogance and arrogance should be avoided. Do not oppress the oppressed. Do not rely on position and wealth. Because the destination of all of us is the soil. If a person turns away from God because of committing a sin, he will return to God because of repentance. When our Prophet spoke about the times of repentance, he said that it can be done until his soul comes to his people, and that the gates of forgiveness are open. It follows that a person should repent until the time of death. When the Prophet and one of his Companions were going on a pilgrimage, they said: "If a mistake is made between one prayer and the next, Allah will forgive this mistake by performing the next prayer." Then the Companions asked: "O Messenger of Allah, shall I tell others this word of yours?" Nabi alayhis salam said in response: "Do not tell anyone else, so they do not rely on it." That is, the kind and merciful quality of Allah is that if one prays five times a day, he forgives the faults, mistakes, and sins between each prayer by performing the next prayer. A servant should feel this quality of Allah and repent. When a servant commits a sin on earth, the angels call out to God and say: "O God. Such and such a servant on earth made a mistake, committed a sin." Then Allah said: "Stop, maybe he will repent." After a while, the angels called out like that again. Allah, the Exalted, answered in the same way. The angels waited for a while. Even then, if the servant does not repent, God says to the angels: "Write this and this one mistake of this servant as one, do not multiply them." As he wrote down the meritorious deeds of his servant who created them tenfold. No matter what happens, if we ask God for forgiveness, he will forgive us. If you were a tyrant, you can become a believer later.

This post will provide you with an example of a Covid-19 pandemic essay. Humanity confronted a variety of issues during the end of the 20th century that were directly tied to important developments in the information and telecommunications fields. Furthermore, these examples of informational and narrative essays about the Covid-19 pandemic will demonstrate the global scenario. In Uzbekistan, when the first instance of the virus was identified on March 15, 2020, an Uzbek person returning from France, the infection was proven to have spread to Uzbekistan. Then, any Uzbek people who live in abroad, came to home in Uzbekistan were isolated and kept in quarantine. Day by day quarantine was strengthened after the migrants of Uzbek arrived. After that the government announced that entertainment venues, such as: restaurants, wedding houses, cafes, bars and parks would be closed and other types of family gatherings would be prohibited. Quickly in companies, organizations and schools, universities, lyceums, colleges worked remotely as well as requiring the use of protective masks. Soon, In Uzbekistan promptly closed the border. As we are human beings, there are many difficulties for people, especially poor people who works daily and masters who takes money for their work. Imagine your own eyes, during the pandemic streets empty, there is no cars, buses, and other trucks except service cars: such as ambulance, police and special organizations cars who worked hospital, government and other carrying cars that goods, items and other pharmacy drugs. There is no human beings at the street, except security guards who placed every 100 or 150 meters and they carefully observe every individuals and stopped who passed the roads and police officer asked any people questions like "where are you going?" and "what is the reason to go" if people don't respond questions seriously as well as their reason unimportant, the policeman returned people home. Moreover, the police officer took over the individual's serious punishment if there was necessary. When the day the self-isolation regime was announced by government, 1 day ago before pandemic, prices rocketed at shops, grocery stores and street markets the purpose is increased demand for primary goods and as well as restrictions , people stocked primary goods such as: sunflower oil, rice, potato and other cooking ingredients. Many villagers have consumed their own grown vegetables and fruits. By the way, government aid many people whom with lack of money and severe conditions. They gave poor people different kinds of pets to expand and as well as to run their own business and were informed the condition of elderly people and as well as gave support. Moreover, many villagers who work in the city hardly ever go to the house, once a week the reason was during the pandemic restrictions, police officers did not let anyone walk in the street. One of the main causes were condition of the people stayed worse day by day, And the governor separated who stayed worse, and took care of every patient. Pandemic gave lesson for us such as: every people cared about one another and helped each other and supported. Uzbekistan still lack of communication systems, and this impacts during the pandemic . All schools, colleges and universities have started online lessons while teachers not ready yet, they even have not prepared yet, and some of the teachers even do not use laptops and own personal computers before. Pupils and students did not get enough knowledge from school, college and university. And some rural areas is not have Wi-Fi and stable internet. Day by day, teacher prepare and learn online platforms such as : zoom, moodle. Then started operating online lessons face to face on zoom platform and placed the tests that students to solve on moodle.

I recall that days as a nightmare , that no one ever realized what is going to happen next. Lockdown covered nothing but love, friendship and interaction among us. But there is something inside me telling ,that this was for the best and it had effected to every inch of our lives , which we never thought about. A lot of pain , diseases , screaming and people's panicking .That was real drama made by human being itself. It is wrong , that we always expect right things from nature if we do not act like this in return. Most people think pandemic was either punishment for all individuals , in order to make them respect the gifts were given to them or the period to be together with their close and dear ones. Also, it enlarged our relationships and honor towards our families. For the first time , public did not accept the rules and that is the reason why virus multiplied its influence. However , it was really hard way to persuade people stay in home and protect themselves , until the number of victims threatened them. The more it increased ,the more horrible it felt for us. Almost all organizations ,schools ,airways and other over-crowded places were closed for a while. People who came from overseas had to be in isolation for several weeks ,far from their home . Virus had an impact on our physical condition with simple symptoms of flu , which slowly damaged internal organs ,but from the other side the greatest pain was watching sick person's suffering and feeling hopeless. New challenges leaded to plenty of discussions between society, majority of pessimistic thoughts about illness' causations educated people to avoid truth by blaming the origin of the all issues. That means , it brought another argumentative considerations such as racism or abuse , while countries were in quarantine solving how to bring back citizens who were stuck in abroad . Earth saw millions of disasters for centuries ,all of the events ended with big losses for environment. A tiny creature with an unusual shape, which had anonymous genesis ,caused the enormous violence in a year. Factories and main industries had a mountainous complications conducted “Big bang” in the economical fields. Big part of the financial services were invested medicine and other affords to find out the cure. Scientists eventually created the vaccine , on the contrary it was little late after half of the innocent population died from the virus. Psychologically , depression and stress awfully breaks people and reduces energy of immune system. It was hard time for everyone: living under the risk of being infected or wasting time inside the box with boredom and an eternal worrying about their family .Thanks to government and other unions world succeeded in recreating cooperation and strengthening the will amid people.

The pandemic started at the end of the year 2019 caused many changes in the daily lives of peoples all over the world. My motherland, Uzbekistan, was also involved with such new rules and lifestyle. Our compatriots spend their time on different activities, and the country has passed through many adaptations to these situations. I am going to tell you about reformations in my country during the Covid-19 and citizen`s reactions. First of all, the main responsibility of protecting people and preventing outbreak of this dangerous virus was on the shoulders of the government when it was found in Uzbekistan. Our government utilized many strategies to reduce the prevalence of the infection. One of the solutions was, obviously, quarantine, because it was the only way to restrict transmission and spread of the illness. Within the period, citizens were only allowed in order to go shopping, some ceremonies were restricted, for example, it was a requirement for families whose sons or daughters are marrying that the number of guests must be 30 at most. At the beginning, it was too difficult for all, because it was against our traditions, but gradually they started to adapt. It was an unforgettable memory for us. Other kinds of reformations were related to the education system, because pupils and students could not go out or study at school. It was respectful that learners continued with their lessons in spite of online lessons on TV made after the effort of our government. Furthermore, in order to inform students about this harmful virus and its consequences, many online contests were organized: essays, drawings, videos, etc. During attending such competitions, they studied about Covid-19 and it helped to raise awareness of people. In addition, salaries of teachers, doctors and other workers employed by the government were paid whether they are not working as it has been before. After introducing this infection, medical field workers became on trend, because curing patients and preventing breaking out of the virus depended on them. When the first vaccine was produced, our country imported them, and started to vaccinate citizens. Initially, senior citizens of the country have been vaccinated, because they were inclined to be infected with the illness. Later, youngsters and teenagers passed through this step, which is why they also had a high possibility of being infected. Meantime, patients had always been vaccinated simultaneously with olds and youths. Our scientists also tried to make vaccines and study how to treat ills. They did this project and with vaccines, wide-spreading of infection was prevented. The brightest memories in this time was the recovery of patients because their smiles and contentment from life was just unimaginable. They were some of the luckiest people among the world population, this is because a small part of them died in spite of the virus. It was horrible to remember because you cannot contemplate the feeling of families which lost their relatives or family hoods. We could do nothing, only God knows who lives or who does not. We cannot decide on this problem. If I tell you what I did during the quarantine, it was enough time for me to do activities, which I wanted. For example, I studied English online and revised my knowledge in Biology and Chemistry which I learned until then. My hard work helped me later when I decided to try to enter Fergana Presidential School. Another thing worthy to mention is missing my friends and relatives who live in a separate house. In contrast, I made some friends within the period, and they are still too valuable for me. In conclusion, the infection forced all people to reform their lifestyle, adapt new rules, and struggle with dangerous viruses. However, they adapted to this lifestyle, and now everything is OK. Virus is being diminished, and almost all of the infected people are recovering from it.

I will tell about my quarantine days. I have written my diary about pandemic's feelings. I'm copying and pasting in my diary and fill world news. 8 March 2002. A special holiday that all women and girls look forward to. While we were celebrating the holiday with our friends, we were talking about Covid-19. We didn't think that the festive mood in the family circle in the evening and the smiles on the faces would stop smiling after a week. 14 March 2020. Preparations for Navruz, our national holiday are in full swing at the school. But none of us knew that we couldn't be together at the celebration. 15 March 2020. Quarantine was announced in Uzbekistan from 16-March everyone took it as a relaxation at the beginning. we weren't interested in how long the quarantine lasted, because we were in the home circle. 16 March 2020. Everyone is at home. My dad is farmer, so he was at work even during pandemic days. Since we were at home my mom used to cook different dishes. My little sister and little brother adn I played different games to keep from getting bored. 21 March 2020. The Uzbek people celebrate this tradition every year. But today we were at home. 25 March 2020. I started to get bored at home. I went to my library and chose a book. The book name is “Khumoyun and Akbar". I read in the evening and thought about the book during the day. 7 April 2020. Same days. My dad difference foods for us. My dad sometimes wouldn't come home beacuse he worried about us getting sick or infecting Covid-19. Doctors and farmers were the real heroes during Covid. They were brave and helped their people. 10 April 2020. “Effort is not in getting all, but in giving up all” parch of “Khumoyun and Akbar” book 11 April 2020. I taught to my little brother and little sister about alphabet and chess.My brother played well Rubik's Cube. We played hide-and-seek game. 12 April 2020. I missed my classmates, my teachers and my friends. I didn't know who I missed?! 24 April 2020. Today began sawm.I celebrated my friends with sawm. 1 May 2020. My brother was sick. My mam took care of him. 2 May 2020. My brother started getting better and it turned out to be just a cold 5 May 2020. I read new book again. The book name is “Classmates” by Muhammad Khoshur. I read by cry :( 8 May 2020. Today is my cousin's birthday. I couldn't go to for celebrating. 9 May 2020. Today is a day of remembrance and appreciation.My dad went to graves of my grandparents. “If a person cannot write his pain, he suffers” parch of “Between two doors” by Utkir Khashimov. 3 June 2020. People in the tenth hous fell ill. My mum cried for this and called my aunt. My aunt is virusologist. She said this news is fake. 21 June 2020. I haven't written for a while.My cousins ​​got covid, they were in the infection hospital. 28 June 2020. We bought sewing machine.Sewing is my hobby. 9 July 2020. My cousins came home from hospital. 19 July 2020. At home alles sick. My mum was very sick we thought my mum was mortal. I am in mess my dad too. we took care of mum every moment I afraid losing my mum. I will pas my heart for my mum. 22 July 2020. Our house turned into a hospital. The smell of chlorine gave us a headache. My dad took care of my mom to such an extent that I saw real love and affection in it. 27 July 2020. My mother started to recover. Quarantine began ease. 1 August 2020. My mother is fully recovered. I have to say this for the last word. It was terrible to see people die before your eyes. You just watch but you can't help. I am glad that I was born in Uzbekistan, because our President did not worry us. We overcame this disease together. Excellent conditions were created for students. Online classes were given on TV. Special online TV channels were active. These kanals even now conduct various clubs and exercises. Online education has surrounded us. now it has become a very convenient educational system. Humanity has understood that money can buy medicine but not health. You can buy books for money, but not knowledge. Money can buy food but not appetite. Eid, a Muslim holiday, was celebrated at home. Eid prayers were not performed in mosques. The world has seen many differences and separations. The world has seen a lot of good and bad. The world has become more aware of the value of health and human life. Learned that panic is the worst habit This is a world of trials… And we must persevere through all trials and overcome them by our faith. If we had known the reward of patience in times of trial, we would have smiled at these trials.

I will tell about my quarantine days. I have written my diary about pandemic's feelings. I'm copying and pasting in my diary and fill world news. 8 March 2002. A special holiday that all women and girls look forward to. While we were celebrating the holiday with our friends, we were talking about Covid-19. We didn't think that the festive mood in the family circle in the evening and the smiles on the faces would stop smiling after a week. 14 March 2020. Preparations for Navruz, our national holiday are in full swing at the school. But none of us knew that we couldn't be together at the celebration. 15 March 2020. Quarantine was announced in Uzbekistan from 16-March everyone took it as a relaxation at the beginning. we weren't interested in how long the quarantine lasted, because we were in the home circle. 16 March 2020. Everyone is at home. My dad is farmer, so he was at work even during pandemic days. Since we were at home my mom used to cook different dishes. My little sister and little brother adn I played different games to keep from getting bored. 21 March 2020. The Uzbek people celebrate this tradition every year. But today we were at home. 25 March 2020. I started to get bored at home. I went to my library and chose a book. The book name is “Khumoyun and Akbar". I read in the evening and thought about the book during the day. 7 April 2020. Same days. My dad difference foods for us. My dad sometimes wouldn't come home beacuse he worried about us getting sick or infecting Covid-19. Doctors and farmers were the real heroes during Covid. They were brave and helped their people. 10 April 2020. “Effort is not in getting all, but in giving up all” parch of “Khumoyun and Akbar” book 11 April 2020. I taught to my little brother and little sister about alphabet and chess.My brother played well Rubik's Cube. We played hide-and-seek game. 12 April 2020. I missed my classmates, my teachers and my friends. I didn't know who I missed?! 24 April 2020. Today began sawm.I celebrated my friends with sawm. 1 May 2020. My brother was sick. My mam took care of him. 2 May 2020. My brother started getting better and it turned out to be just a cold 5 May 2020. I read new book again. The book name is “Classmates” by Muhammad Khoshur. I read by cry :( 8 May 2020. Today is my cousin's birthday. I couldn't go to for celebrating. 9 May 2020. Today is a day of remembrance and appreciation.My dad went to graves of my grandparents. “If a person cannot write his pain, he suffers” parch of “Between two doors” by Utkir Khashimov. 3 June 2020. People in the tenth hous fell ill. My mum cried for this and called my aunt. My aunt is virusologist. She said this news is fake. 21 June 2020. I haven't written for a while.My cousins ​​got covid, they were in the infection hospital. 28 June 2020. We bought sewing machine.Sewing is my hobby. 9 July 2020. My cousins came home from hospital. 19 July 2020. At home alles sick. My mum was very sick we thought my mum was mortal. I am in mess my dad too. we took care of mum every moment I afraid losing my mum. I will pas my heart for my mum. 22 July 2020. Our house turned into a hospital. The smell of chlorine gave us a headache. My dad took care of my mom to such an extent that I saw real love and affection in it. 27 July 2020. My mother started to recover. Quarantine began ease. 1 August 2020. My mother is fully recovered. I have to say this for the last word. It was terrible to see people die before your eyes. You just watch but you can't help. I am glad that I was born in Uzbekistan, because our President did not worry us. We overcame this disease together. Excellent conditions were created for students. Online classes were given on TV. Special online TV channels were active. These kanals even now conduct various clubs and exercises. Online education has surrounded us. now it has become a very convenient educational system. Humanity has understood that money can buy medicine but not health. You can buy books for money, but not knowledge. Money can buy food but not appetite. Eid, a Muslim holiday, was celebrated at home. Eid prayers were not performed in mosques. The world has seen many differences and separations. The world has seen a lot of good and bad. The world has become more aware of the value of health and human life. Learned that panic is the worst habit This is a world of trials… And we must persevere through all trials and overcome them by our faith. If we had known the reward of patience in times of trial, we would have smiled at these trials.

Coronavirus...This was the disease that led to loss of thousand people, presented immense challenges to world economy, public health and many more. However, it was an infection that showed us the true values in this life. It was a disorder that taught us to appreciate things once we took for granted. Moreover, it was a time for some people to improve, to work on themselves more,including me I can clearly remember the day when it was announced quarantine for the first time in our country. It was Sunday. I didn't take it seriously until the moment our class teacher wrote a message saying "Dear students, our school is closed until the quarantine is over. Please stay home and stay safe". I was worried a little bit, but not much,because I used to go to the tutor from different subjects and I thought I could see my friends there. Unfortunately, the same message came from my tutor. Now, the real mourning quarantine started in my life. I didn't know what to do. It was as if someone took the essence of my life from me. Moreover I used to see 2-3 people's funeral a day since our home was close to the cemetery. Even though I was in panic at first, it didn't take me much time to take advantage of the quarantine. Before the pandemic I was rarely seen in the kitchen, since I was usually immersed in my studies. But now I had more time, so I tried making various dishes, watching Youtube videos. I spent more time with my family, listening to old stories of my grandparents. We knew that Covid-19 was extremely hard for the elderly to go through, so we paid special attention to them. However, it was against my nature, just sitting at home and reading a few science fiction books. I had to do something more academic. I was aware of the fact that most of the international exams were stopped,like IELTS. But I felt that one day everything would be normal and humans would be back to their pre-pandemic life. Nonetheless, I had to take my IELTS as soon as the quarantine finished and I was not prepared at all. It was at that time, when I started searching for online IELTS courses, but was not able to find the one according to my criteria. So, I downloaded online materials for self-study and started to prepare, getting some instructions from my tutor. It was at that time when I encountered the advertisement of the program that changed my life. Flex program which stands for Future Leaders Exchange Program is a program that provides 100% scholarship for high school students to spend one academic year in the United States of America, living with host family and attending U.S high school. After thorough research, I became aware of the fact that they couldn't send students this year due to Covid situation. But selection process would take a year and anything could happen in a year. So, spark appeared in my heart that I could win this scholarship. I finished my application and only thing that left was waiting for the answer whether I was in the next round or not. During that time frame, pandemic situation got better and I took my IELTS test . And guess what? I took overall 8.0 band score. But I didn't know that it was just a beginning. I took part in our national English olympiad and got the first place in town and region level. For my performance in the republic level, I got an admission into one university without any exams. Being occupied with competitions, I soon got the e-mail that I was in the next round of FLEX. Excited and worried at the same time, I collected the red tape I needed, even though it was a little bit difficult because of quarantine. I took some English tests, wrote few essays and was interviewed as well. Again, waiting...It was 24th of march, when I received a call from FLEX Uzbekistan with congratulations that I had been selected as a flex finalist. There are no enough words to describe my feelings I felt at that time. Even a year ago, I could not imagine myself in a U.S high school, chatting with American classmates and going home in that popular yellow school bus. But now, I will start living this life after 2 weeks. I know that Covid brought misery into lots of people's lives. They lost their loved ones, their jobs...However, it also brought solidarity. We learned to pay attention to the people who need our help, learned our family members' faces better and realized how much we missed around-table meals with our family. Moreover, lots of people realized what their true passion is or had a life-changing event in their lives like I had. (In the picture above, you can see FLEX 2022-2023 finalists)

At the start of the pandemic, students all around the world were forced to adapt to online learning and every one of them had a unique and interesting first-day story. Mine started one morning with a deafening sound. Beep! Beep! Beep! “Shut up!” I shouted with all the energy I had, which wasn't much because it was still very early in the morning. Beep! Beep! Beep! I tried to figure out how to stop my alarm but it was a new clock and my sleepy head didn't help me. I banged the alarm clock. I didn't care if it broke; I just wanted it to stop making that high-pitched, annoying noise. Beep! Beep! Beep! After a few minutes, I gave up and said, “You win, you win!” Beep! Beep! Beep! I got out of bed and stretched my stiff body. After some morning stretches, I went downstairs to have breakfast. I had some delicious cereal with milk. After finishing my breakfast, I went back upstairs, just to find out that my stupid alarm was still ringing. Beep! Beep! Beep! “Dude! I'm awake! Your job is done for the day! Now, can you please shut up?” I yelled at my alarm clock which didn't seem to help. Beep! Beep! Beep! Luckily, my brain was more awake by now and found that there was an off switch at the bottom of the alarm. “Who hides the off switch at the bottom?” I complained, “No one's going to see it!” I was nagging about the location of the switch when I suddenly took note of the time. Fifteen past seven. “Oh no! I'm going to be late!” I exclaimed as I ran to my shower. I took the quickest shower in the history of showers but I was too panicked to even care. Then I changed into my school uniform and brushed my teeth. I ran back to my room and opened my laptop. I checked the time. Twenty past seven. “Phew,” I sighed. I went downstairs to my study room and tried to figure out how to get to the meeting. I wanted to enter earlier to make a good first impression. “Ok, so they said to go to Google Classroom and look for the class called Meeting Room,” I said to myself while following the instructions. After scrolling through Google Classroom for several seconds, I finally found the Meeting Room class. I saw that there was a ‘Join' button so I took a guess and pressed it. I was right! It led me to the Google Meet tab. I sighed in relief. Oh no! I said it too soon. The website won't load properly. I tried to reload it but it won't work. I started to panic. I didn't know what to do. I began hitting my laptop and shouting at it. “Work, laptop, work!” I yelled. My heart began to beat rapidly. My body was shaking. “What should I do? What should I do?” I asked myself. Wifi! I ran out the door and to my wifi router. I began kicking it and hitting it. “WORK!” I got so mad at it. It must've been scared because when I gave up and went back to my study room, I saw that the Google Meet had loaded. I could finally join and I wasn't even late. “One minute early. I guess it's better than being late,” I sighed as I entered the meeting. The rest of the day was the start of a new journey that I have yet to explore. I couldn't wait for what was going to come next.

The start of the pandemic was shocking for me as was standing in front of the very essential level up of my life - I was applying to higher education. Let me begin with something good. I had already reviewed my IELTS certification on March 6, before everywhere was closed for quarantine starting from March 15, 2020. That was the only achievement that got me into an American university. But what about finishing compulsory education? The quality of education is seriously dropped, and many of us missed our additional lessons for preparation because walking outside while quarantine costed rocket high. One of the pity things for me was that I and all of my friends couldn't have the graduation ceremony and party that we expected to be unforgettable memories. Overall, no high school or lyceum graduate couldn't experience it in Uzbekistan. Whenever we visit our school or lyceum in May for graduation ceremonies and look at graduates we feel like: "Yeah, they're having it". The worst feeling ever. We are seven in my family. My grandparents are over 80 and my parents are also quite old. I have a brother and a sister who are schoolers. Covid hit us significantly as we experienced it multiple times during the period. My father had a very severe type. He managed to get well at home because we were sure there weren't enough places at Covid treating centers. After him, I. High temperatures were a real burden for me and antibiotics were too difficult to come over for my stomach. However, thank God, other members of the family felt Covid like simple flu and just several doses of treatment immediately got them on their feet. One of the bitter truths about the family I realized during the pandemic is that too much family time is harmful to the inter-family relationship. I wanted to run away somehow. At the times when everyone worked and studied far from home, at the end of the day we enjoyed the family gathering as we missed each other. But in quarantine, we were fed up with each other. One interesting fact, the number of divorces increased during the quarantine in my country. I live in the countryside, almost 2 hours from the city center and during the pandemic our town became dead. Not a single body was outside, most of the shops were closed, and the hospital which is at the end of our street was supervised by military forces. Every 2-3 hours there were military cars along the street informing us not to go out at certain hours of the day and how to take measures and behave while we are outside. It was scary that it felt like a commendation regime in war periods. I was seventeen and this environment caused me to experience severe depression without any hope for my bright future and online lessons caused my eyes side to drop, and gave me early back, and heart pains. It felt like my body got older by 10 years but in front of my eyes, time barely passed. About after 6 months, when quarantine rules pretty eased down and we were finally allowed to visit the university, I felt some significant changes in my receptor organs - my tongue and nose. Things start to taste differently and smells just turned off. I was eating food like from another planet and for additional five or six months, I missed the real taste of meat and fried potatoes. Still, I start recognizing the smell two or three times slower than normal people, and eggs, greens, and cucumbers still taste different than it was before the pandemic. Starting face-to-face studies and communication with peers was very precious for me. However, there were sad stories too. Two of my peers who had been accepted to Japanese and Korean universities couldn't get there due to quarantine in both countries. Moreover, some girls told me that they lost loved ones and even family members during the pandemic. After, hearing them I felt grateful for all I have almost haven't changed during the pandemic. Bonus sad story by me: my family won the Green Card DV-2020 program but due to quarantine our visas expired. Now, everything we spent getting into the US is just burned, nothing left. Yes, now everything is just passed away and all we have now is mostly memories and unforgettable life lessons. So, what I learned from the pandemic is very precious to me. Firstly, I started to appreciate the freedom that is given to me and learned to experience more gratefulness. It wasn't all about the feelings, too. My hard skills also improved even though I have learned them online. That might be too much, so let me conclude. The world is not sure if Covid-19 is just spread by bats or if it was an unfinished biological weapon, one thing is obvious we are just killing ourselves and slowing down our evolution. Curiosity kills the cat, I hope we won't appear in the place of that cat again.

“You got this. It's just a walk,” I told myself as I stared at the mirror in my room. It had been so long since I left my house that I forgot how to dress nicely. I had finally chosen my outfit for the day after trying out my whole closet. I closed my eyes and tried to find any positivity but nothing. My shaking legs began walking out of the room while I checked if I forgot anything. “My mask!” I exclaimed. Silly me! We've been in a pandemic for six months but this was my first time wearing a mask. “This is uncomfortable. How can I breathe?” I asked. I readjust my mask to make it more comfortable. Attempt failed. “Let's try this again,” I mumbled. “You got this. It's just a walk,” I told myself as I stared at the mirror in my room. I checked my fit and decided not to change it again since I'd have to look through the piles of clothes. My shaking left leg lifted off the ground and slowly stepped forward. Then it was my right leg's turn. It was surprisingly easier than my left's. I continued my journey and was delighted to find that it was getting easier with every step. “I actually got this,” I chuckled. I said it too early. Well, it was easy until I had to face the most daunting task: opening the front door. My trembling right hand reached inside my left pocket and slowly grabbed the key. I proceeded to insert the key into the keyhole but quickly pulled it back. “Come on, you can do this,” I tried to encourage myself. My right hand approached the keyhole again. But it quickly backed away. Then back towards the keyhole. After a few minutes and a million tries to get my right hand to unlock the door, I picked another option: my left hand. “You got this,” I motivated it before handing it the keys. Click! I did it! I opened the door; it felt magical. I took a deep breath and walked forward. The fresh air calmed my heart and blew away all my worries. It tempted me to take another step. Before I knew it, I was next to my mailbox. I looked around and I could feel a smile forming. I turned to my left and saw my neighbor playing with her grandkids in her yard. She told me she hadn't seen them in so long. She was so happy to finally meet them again. I can't help but smile a bit more. I then turned to my right and saw my other neighbor sitting on his rocking chair. Beside him was an empty rocking chair. The chair belonged to his late wife who passed due to the virus. However, he still made her tea every day. My smile slowly disappeared. I decided to walk to the nearby park. I saw that the park wasn't as crowded as it was. There would usually be kids running around the playground, while their parents were chatting on the nearby benches while also watching their kids. Grr! My stomach growled. I just realized that I was so busy deciding on my outfit that I missed breakfast. I decided to go to the hotdog stand. “Can I get a hotdog?” I ordered as I grabbed my wallet from my pocket. “Only that?” asked the owner. I saw that the owner needed money so I ordered a soda. “Ok, that will be four dollars,” the owner replied. “Here's ten dollars. Keep the change. Hard times?” I felt sorry for the owner. His eyes lit up as I handed him the money. “Ya, it used to be so crowded but now not so. Thanks for the tip,” explained the owner. “I'm sorry to hear that. Have a nice day,” I waved goodbye and sat on a bench. The hotdog was really good and the can of soda was very refreshing. Once I finished my small meal, I decided to jog home using the longer route. I jogged through a neighborhood filled with beautiful houses. However, it wasn't the houses that caught my attention; it was the people. On my right, there was a family playing together in their front yard. I guessed the parents were working from home. To my left, there was a truck filled with boxed meals. There were a few people handing out those meals to the community. They even offered me a meal but I politely refused because I knew someone else needed it more than I did. It suddenly started raining. I didn't know what to do. I was pretty far away from home. Luckily, the people who were handing out meals offered me a ride home. I would usually refuse to get in a vehicle with strangers but these people had good intentions and I didn't want to catch a cold. Several minutes later, I was home and thanked the kind people. I cleaned up and said, “What a new world.”

“Does this make you feel any sort of way?” I was asked, an inquisitive look flashing across the doctor's face. “Sometimes being diagnosed with something can be,” she paused, debating her next word choices. “Affirming?” I asked her. I looked around the well decorated room trying to formulate my thoughts. The velvet couch that I was sitting on irritated me and almost made me feel like I needed to itch every part of my body. The psychiatrist's many degrees were displayed across the cream walls, held up by matte black picture frames. The room felt stuffy. No book was out of place and no painting was not curated so that it matched perfectly to the room. The perfection strangled me and soothed me at the same time. While sitting there listening to her talk, I had managed to peel off all of my nail polish that I had recently gotten painted, green flakes of paint piling in my hands. I thought being diagnosed with a mental disorder that I had known that I had for many years would be affirming. Instead, it filled me with a sense of dread. Sleepless nights now had a reason. Hands washed over and over again now had an explanation. You would think that would have given me some peace, but instead only one word flashed across my mind, over and over. Crazy. Two long months later, Covid-19 entered the United States. Every night, I sat on the couch with my family, listening to various politicians discuss scientific topics they knew nothing about. Every so often, a case notification would flash across my phone, informing me that someone in my country, state, or city had been recently infected by Covid-19. Buildings were shut down and restaurants started to change their ways to accommodate the new ways of life. Irrational fears once only held by me were now prevalent in the public. People started washing their hands an abnormal amount of times and wore gloves while walking their dogs. In a way, it made me feel less alone. It became hard to come up with new things to do everyday. Like many other people, I tried new workout videos and watched TV that I had never seen before. I deep cleaned every area of my house and read mystery novels in my bed while listening to the rain. I had online classes but they were a joke; none of my teachers had any experience teaching online and it was impossible to focus in the confines of my room. We tried to distract ourselves with board game nights and themed dinners, but it was hard to ignore how the seasons flashed before our eyes and we were still stuck in our houses. Like everyone around me, I slowly started to lose it. It became tiring to do things that were once considered relaxing and all the time left alone with my thoughts allowed anxiety to sneak past my senses. Like many other people around me, I was scared to leave the house for various reasons; I didn't want to infect my father who was a doctor and was needed on the front lines or my mother who was still trying to navigate ways to teach her students from her desk. It became hard to decipher what thoughts were rational and which thoughts were not. Eventually, I became tired of trying to control the ever-present anxiety that had once made me feel so alone. A few months later, my family was in the car driving to Pennsylvania. We had packed the car with all the things we thought we would need; blankets were piled in the back, toys rolled around in the trunk, and excitement filled the car with happiness that we hadn't felt since pre-pandemic. We reached our destination, my brother and I practically falling out of the car running to the door. As I stepped in, outfitted with an N95 mask, I was greeted with wonderful little bundles of fur nipping on my shoelaces. I knelt down as eight little puppies ran around with no control over their own limbs, tripping and falling over each other. Many seconds later, they started to tire and settled down, snuggling with each other while falling asleep. However, one puppy could not handle her excitement and was still climbing all over me, nuzzling her head into my hair while trying to chew on my earring. At that moment I knew that I hadn't come here, to this little house in Pennsylvania, to choose a puppy. The puppy had already chosen me. Flash forward two years later, and my pandemic puppy was one of the best things that ever happened to me. She forced our family to go on walks in the neighborhood and interact with people from afar. She brought happiness to our lives that we didn't know we needed. At the time I didn't know that it was possible for a dog to bring me so much joy. Now I know that by adopting her, we didn't just save her life, we saved mine.

The Coronavirus outbreak that swept the planet showed me humanity's true colors. I saw the news stories of doctors and nurses living in their garages to protect their families. I watched interviews and live feeds across social media praising teachers for finding ways to continue teaching. I watched communities come together to take care of each other with free mini libraries and food pantries. I saw neighbors put up signs thanking frontline workers, while others put out drinks and snacks for their delivery drivers. And yet, despite all that bravery and love, I became bombarded with what can only be described as my breaking point. Videos of frontline workers being assaulted filled social media feeds. Heartbreaking stories emerged of people attacking hospital staff in parking lots. Customers fighting in shops for “necessities”. Infamous Karen videos became the norm. The world had become a violent terrifying place. Not only were we fighting an invisible virus; we were trying to survive against the losing battle of self-importance and entitlement. My parents instilled in me the belief that every single life matters and thus deserves nothing less than the utmost respect. The janitor mopping the floors deserves to be treated the same as the CEO, as one without the other could not succeed. I always held this belief in my heart, and it crushed me to see that this was not a universal belief. Being a retail worker myself at the time, I was afraid. Every time I left my house my body was preparing for fight or flight. In my head I would come up with ways I could defend myself physically if someone came at me; my go to was a pen in my hand at all times. I had only a mask at the time to keep me safe from a virus coming for me… It would do little against a fist. Taking the TTC; the Toronto public transit system, I had to keep a close eye on those around me. Backing away from those who refused to social distance, and biting my tongue until it bled under my mask when people would take theirs off. Sometimes I would speak up, but I always knew the risk I took doing so. Someday someone would come at me, and I wouldn't be able to physically defend myself. I reached a point where I no longer cared. I was tired of fighting an uphill battle. All I could think of was my family and of families like mine; who were doing everything in their power to make things safe; taking care of each other in such trying times. I would stare at the mask less, proudly smirking because no one could tell them what to do, as they would yell out in victory, “We won't be controlled.” and “I'm not wearing a muzzle!” My hatred for them grew every day; the more bare faces I saw the more frustration built. Why were they more important than my mother? My father? My sister? Why couldn't they get that this wasn't a political issue? No one was trying to silence them. They were free to believe whatever they wanted. Policies were made to prevent the spread. You don't want to wear a mask? Then don't. But then you can't complain online, or scream at employees when you're denied entry. You can't scream that your freedoms and rights are being violated when stores have the right to refuse service, while police remove you from private property. They wanted others to follow the rules so that they could be safe, but then turned around and refused to do the same for others. Time and time again I was baffled by their selfishness. Why is your comfort more important than someone's life? How can anyone be so cruel? Did they have hearts of stone? How could you see the footage of bodies being pulled out of long term care homes and pretend it's normal? How could you watch videos of exhausted nurses barely able to take off their PPE gear while tears rolled down their cheeks, from hours of calling codes? How could it not crush your soul to hear the cries of families mourning their children. We were losing mothers, fathers, sisters, daughters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, best friends, and yet they still didn't care, because it wasn't them. My family should have been safe, protected by you and yours, just as we did for you. But in your eyes, we weren't worth the inconvenience. Our lives didn't matter. The pandemic not only taught me I can't trust others to do the right thing, but it stole a future from me. I lost my faith in humanity, and with it, my dreams of ever becoming a mother. There is no sense to bring another life into this world just to witness this exact scenario in the next pandemic. For them to feel the fear, disgust, hopelessness and rage I felt. That so many of us felt. This isn't a world I want to make another suffer through.. So in a weird way, I have a pandemic to thank for showing me humanity's true colors. It took so much from us; years, resources, loved ones, but, it confirmed that we will always be creatures of habit. And even in the most dire of circumstances, people won't ever change.

“Someone in China got sick after eating a bat according to my history teacher,” the voice echoed around the room, as my head snapped up to join my friend's conversation. “Wow. What an idiot.” We laughed it off without a care in the world. Two months later, I couldn't see him again. This 21th century plague of the new decade had snuck up behind us like a hungry predator. Despite the warming weather, I was curled under the heavy blankets in my bedroom, the only source of lighting being my phone and sun-rays peeking through the window. My computer was set on my desk, calling me to finish the piling work assigned by teachers as they slowly realized we won't be going back to school any time soon. Instead of listening to the call, my eyes were still locked on my phone screen. Each day there is more news about the pandemic. One day they say it'll be over by mid-summer, the next, two years. I tear my eyes away from the phone to look elsewhere. Maybe if I'd ignore it, the pandemic would disappear. My body automatically shifted to the side, where I can stare at the walls crowding against me instead. It wasn't much better. The walls held the evidence of what happened in the past months. The empty walls of a recently moved-in home had now earned the right to be jeweled with posters and shelves, yet after gazing at them day after day, I want to tear them down and restart. Everyday since the quarantine notice went out, my room was where I was stuck. Yes, I could travel down the steps and hang out in the kitchen, but with five other people in the house, there is not much room for peace. The sound of footsteps outside my door pulled me out of bed, “Heading to the grocery store. Do you want to join?” Weariness was still clouding my mind when I looked at my father in front of me. Groceries meant it was Friday. I didn't notice. After a quick affirmation, I pulled on my new outfit, way nicer than anything I have worn in the past. In this day and age of pajamas and sweats, basic tasks meant you can dress up. I embellished myself with jewelry and reminded myself three times to grab my cloth mask before I headed out the door, regretting not grabbing one of the many snacks I had baked over the week. The car ride to the supermarket was short. Too short. If it were me driving, I'd take a wrong turn to prevent myself from the same daily routine. But I'm not driving, so I suck it up and enter the store like a kid entering a carnival. At first, it is fun. I reach for my favorite foods, as well as the obscure ingredients I need for my upcoming week of baking. Then, the crowds start to get tighter. Why do so many people need chips? One person moves around me, and another is blocking the shelves. I want to get out of the suffocation and the panic that I am not used to. Any of the people in this aisle can be sick. I could get sick. My sister can get sick. My mom, dad, and brothers as well. I want to go home. I need to go home. I always end up home. Pulling back into the driveway is like rolling back into bed. I'm safe, but I know that it is not for long. It is a sign of warmth. A sign of peace. A checkpoint in life, that reminds me that tomorrow I have to begin again. I'll wake up and be in the same pandemic. The new world that we live in. Each news article tells us a new story, but we have to hope we can prepare for it.

My mom was always my hero. She is everything to me. My mom and I would do everything together. I idolized my older sister, who was out of the house before I was a teenager, but my mom is, well… that's my mama. She helped me through a number of anxiety-ridden moments: I remember the moment when I realized my anxiety was real. I was in First Grade. We were given a color-by-number assignment page. The way my brain saw it was to ignore the numbers (and clearly the directions). All I could see in front of me was a pretty picture for me to color however I wanted. I looked around the classroom and noticed that everyone's assignment was the same. I looked down at my own and started questioning my creativity and the differences between my coloring and theirs. Why was I so different? The “forbidden” color-by-number remained in the very back of my messy desk, looking like abstract origami. I felt like a freak, but why? Turns out, I was just flexing my creative muscles. I got my creativity from my mom and, through her, I eventually learned to build on it. At an early age, she would introduce me to art and books. We would walk to the public library together and sit there for hours and read. Now that I'm writing this all out, I'm realizing that it was probably just as nice for her as it was for me. She could quietly read in the atrium lounge where the only sound made was the buzzing from the lights and an occasional book page fluttering. When I was a pre-teen, Mom started working at a clothing alterations shop where she eventually became part owner. I was so proud of her when she worked there. She invited me to help out some days after school and taught me everything she knew about hemming (it's terrible), embroidery (cool!), jackets (hard to deal with), and little odds and ends that we could make together. She even helped me with design work when I applied to go to the Fashion Institute of Technology (big dreams, yes). My mother suffered from Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, a rare, inherited disorder that can cause lung and liver disease. When Covid-19 hit in March of 2020, she was all I could think about. At that point, she was on constant oxygen. But my mom was ever so vigilant when it came to her health and was sure to wear masks, stayed in her assisted living apartment room, and asked for help if she needed it. By April, things had taken a turn for the worse and no one could find any masks to wear. I do what I normally do in stressful, anxiety-ridden situations: I was normal. Stressful situations where a large group of people are involved tend to make me less anxious - everyone is worrying enough for all of us! I got out my trusty Singer sewing machine that my mom gave to me and started sewing my own masks with a pattern I found online. I was being resourceful as Mom taught me. My mom and I talked on the phone a lot more while we sewed; she started making masks as well. She made them for nurses and friends and her church. She even started making more hot bowl holders (hot pads for bowls!) that she used to make all the time. Nothing could keep this woman down. I was tiring out from making tons of masks but here she was, steadily going at it. I knew then that I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to sew her patterns, cook her recipes, and do her Jane Fonda videos. Just like Mom. I mean, how could someone with breathing problems be almost healthy (for her) during this pandemic? She is typically in and out of the hospital all the time. I couldn't wrap my head around it. Her faith stood strong in the face of anything. Who wouldn't want to be her? February 3, 2021, 4:51 PM Voicemail from Mom: “Oh, hi, baby girl. This is Mama. I'm doing well and I miss talking to you, so give me a call and we'll chat.” April 20, 2021 Voicemail from Mom: “Hi, Honey. Call me back when you want to visit. Sorry I didn't get back to you, but call the hospital phone.” Mom was back in the hospital. It was not Covid related, but her lungs and heart were failing her. My mom has fought many battles; we weren't so sure this was one she would fight through. She had told me that she was ready. It didn't make the pain any easier to deal with. My mama, Dorothy Jean Berg, died on April 26, 2021. She lived a long life of happy memories and had a strong will to survive. In the end, she died a happy woman with a full, completed life. She was the queen in life's game of chess. As 2022 arrives, I am thinking about how I want to live my life like her. I want to be better and do better and create happiness around me. We all should want to create a world worth living in and worth making beautiful. By turning our anxieties and fears into tangible art and expression, we can conquer anything. I am now surrounded by many hot bowl holders, masks, and photos of her beautiful, smiling face.